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U.S. OPENAugust 26, 2013James BlakeNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK THE MODERATOR: Thanks for joining us today. Give the floor to James. JAMES BLAKE: Everyone, I guess I don't think I'm catching anyone by surprise by the e‑mails and calls I have gotten in the last 24 hours when I announced I'm having a press conference. No real surprise here. This is my last tournament. I have had 14 pretty darn good years on tour, loved every minute of it, and I definitely couldn't have asked for a better career. For me to think of matches I should have won and to make those as regrets for me has always just seemed greedy. I did the best I could in every situation, and I know probably anyone in here that's covered me before has heard me probably annoyingly give the answer often that my goals, when I was playing tennis, instead of ranking based, were, one, to keep getting better and try and improve every day in practice, and, two, when I'm done playing, put my racquets down and be content with what I did and happy that I did everything the right way. That's not saying I didn't make any mistakes. I'm sure I did. I made plenty. But I learned from them and did the best with what I could. That's where I am at today. I'm really, really excited I have gotten to do this on my terms. I had knee surgery a couple years ago, and if that had been the end it would have been a little more disappointing to me to end it without going out the way I am now where still just two weeks ago I beat a guy top 20 in the world. I know I have the capability of still playing at that level at times. It's just not with the same consistency I was able to four or five years ago when I felt like every week was an opportunity to win a tournament. I don't feel like that as much anymore. I still love the competition. That's one thing I will miss. I have told a couple select people, couple of the players, Mardy and John and Sam, people I have been through so much with, and Andy. I have told them that one of the things I will miss is their friendship every day in the locker room, getting to hang with them, dinners, all the good times we have. The competition is something else I will miss. I will miss pressure‑packed moments, break points, set points, match points, crowd getting into it. But I'm so, so fortunate to have a life after this that I'm looking forward to with my wife, with my family. You know, there are so many athletes that say they can never replace that feeling of having that adrenaline rush, but I get more of an adrenaline rush now seeing my daughter wake up in the morning. That's something that I'm truly looking forward to, being able to spend more time with my wife and daughter. This has been more than I ever could have expected out here, and I definitely did not think this was going to happen, but I'm human. (Becoming emotional.) It happens, I guess. JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: But I did. (Throwing towel to James.) JAMES BLAKE: Sure you won't need this? You know, I haven't done this on my own. Tennis is an individual sport. Some people definitely need to be mentioned. My wife and daughter have been there with me for the last five or six years of this. And Carlos Flemming, my agent. It's crazy. I am sure most people to think of an agent and thank them just for dollars and cents. I'm not thanking him for the dollars and cents I made on tour. I'm thanking him for the friendship. Over 14 years I have had one agent. I still remember the times he came and visited me at college and my dad scared the crap out of him and made sure he appreciated that school came first. You know, I definitely don't think I would have had a career without Brian Barker. He meant so much to me as a friend, as a mentor. You know, I don't think he ever asked for credit; therefore, didn't get a ton. But I'm here to tell you that without him, my career, I wouldn't have had a press conference to announce my retirement. I wouldn't have had a career. I would have been anonymously out of the challengers and futures circuit 10 years ago. He made me the player I was. I'm thankful to him. My parents were obviously the most inspirational to me, but that is more in life than in tennis. I'm lucky enough to understand the difference. I don't put my entire self‑worth on what I do on the tennis court. They were more important to me off the court, and I hope to be that way in my family in the future. Rory Cordial has kept me healthy for the last five or six years. He's also been a friend that I could never replace and will continue to have that friendship, I hope. You know, I'm going to miss all the guys. But otherwise I guess I will try to compose myself and answer some questions. THE MODERATOR: Obviously James will be well‑missed. I think maybe the only people in the tennis family that might be okay with your departure is our transcribers. (Laughter). Q. You told me last year that you almost quit last April because the knee wasn't coming around. What precipitated the final decision? What specifically? JAMES BLAKE: You know, despite the tears, I'm actually really happy about this. I can do it on my own terms. Always wanted to do that. I thought about it a ton this year. Like I said, there are a lot of things I'm going to miss, but there are some things I'm not going to miss: The constant travel; living out of a suitcase; my body aching a little more than it used to; just not being able to recover the same way; playing a long patch and then the next day not really feeling like I am sure my body will be up to the challenge the next day the way it used to. So, yeah, last April, or I don't know exactly when it was, but I remember thinking about it, that my knee isn't recovering, shoulder is giving me problems. I was able to get through that and still play some pretty good tennis. I had a few pretty good results this year. I have enjoyed it. I've had those pressure‑packed moments I talk about that have kept me going. It's what, you know, we have all wanted out of the sport is to have those moments, and I'm going to try to take in as many as I can too at the Open. Hopefully I will be here for more than just one match or two. I want to give it my all still this year and have more of those moments, because I love them and I will miss them. But I'm comfortable with the time of it ending. Q. Can you reflect on 2004/2005, all that you went through personally, health‑wise, and the fact that you were able to get past that? JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I think that time being part of the biggest tragedies of my life to this point also clued me in to how lucky I am right now to be doing this on my terms, because my career could have ended twice in 2004. I was millimeters from breaking my neck in the way that would have left me paralyzed for the rest of my life. When that happened and I was able to get back in a few months, I knew how lucky I was. Unfortunately, it was also the time my father passed away, and that had an effect on me physically with shingles. If I hadn't gotten to the ER immediately for treatment they said my facial nerve could have died. If that's the case, I never would have played. They would have had to do some experimental surgery to possibly have me possibly regain the feeling in my face and my balance, my sight, things like that. Easily could have ended right there and my life could have been drastically different. I know how lucky I am to be where I am and to be able to do this this way. I clearly have said that I have no regrets. Some things are out of my control obviously. If I could do it all over again, if I had, you know, a genie in a bottle and could make one wish, I'd wish my dad was here to see the rest of my career. But I know I'm lucky enough to have spent 24 years with a guy I couldn't have asked for a better father and someone to treat me‑‑ to raise me the way he did and for me to learn how to be a man from no better role model. I look at myself as lucky in that situation, but those times were tough. Fortunate to have the friends I have that got me through that time. They're the ones that have been sending me emails and texts the last 24 hours saying the same thing they said then. Doesn't matter if I win another tennis match ever again I'm their friend, so I'm lucky. Q. You make your decision. Any part of you that says, Maybe not right now? JAMES BLAKE: No. That's why, again, I feel fortunate I have come to this decision over a period of time. People who know me well know that even times when it seems like I'm making a flippant statement, it's not. I have put a lot of time and thought into it. I definitely understand that I couldn't probably play much longer in doubles. You see some of the guys out there mid to late 30s. I think Nestor might even be 40. Those guys can play and I can do that, but it's just that I want to walk away when I know I still can. I don't want to be dragged out of this game. I don't want someone telling me I need to leave. I want to leave on my own terms. I'm happy doing that right now. Q. You have had some pretty dramatic moments right here at the Open. Can you talk about some of the highlights and maybe even lowlights that you have experienced here? JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I think most people remember for me the biggest highlight and lowlight at the same time was the Agassi match. Quarterfinals. Couldn't have been ‑‑it was hyped extremely‑‑ you know, hyped from the beginning of the tournament that we could meet in the quarterfinals. I was coming back. He was possibly at the end of his career. Two Americans in the quarterfinals after I had beaten the No. 2 in the world, Rafa Nadal. A lot of times those matches fizzle. There is a lot of hype and someone goes out and wins 3, 3, and 3, and it's over. I was hoping that was going to be the case when I won the first two sets 63, 63. Andre had different plans and played like a champion, the reason he is one of the greatest of all time. Third and fourth set were his without any trouble, and the fifth set we both came up with our best. You know, we left our absolute best out there on the court. I think that tiebreaker in the fifth set was all winners I don't remember any errors. I haven't watched it. I don't know when I will. But from my memory it was all winners. And, you know, I read his book and I still remember that one shot he was talking about where I stepped around a forehand and hit it inside in and he was 30 feet from it because he couldn't believe I would go for that shot down match point. I've got a couple of friends that are big tennis fans, and some of them have said to me still that that's their favorite shot that I ever hit. For me, I will have fond memories of that time, even though I definitely would have liked to have won two more points and won that match and been in the semifinals against Robby. Again, that's just greedy. I still remember that night was great for tennis. I still hear people talk to me about that match. I heard people that next day, that next week, telling me they lost plenty of sleep. I think that's great for tennis. I'd say beating Rafa was a pretty big moment. That was, again, the same year I was just coming back and I had so many friends here. That was the J Block time when they were at their peak and they were going crazy and I couldn't believe it. I remember dropping to my knees afterwards and just couldn't believe I beat such a great player and played as well as I did. Didn't let any of the moment get to me. Just played my game, and it was good enough to win that day. Q. Looking forward, do you have any plans other than to be with your family? Is there any chance you would return to Harvard? JAMES BLAKE: No immediate plans. Work on my golf game. It's pretty poor at the moment. Change plenty of diapers. Don't hold me to that, Emily. I will do my best. (Laughter). But no, I just want to be around family for a while and kind of see what happens. I don't have any specific plans. I'd like to see, you know, if there is something outside of tennis to do. Something still inside tennis ‑‑ way down the road I would obviously love to be back in tennis as the Davis Cup captain. Courier has got those guys playing unbelievable right now, so I wouldn't step on anyone's toes. But in the future, that was such a great part of my career that I'd love to be a captain, as well. Seeing other players that have turned into commentators, like Justin here, that's a possibility. I don't know if I could do it with the same panache he has and with the same grace, but I could try. Something like that would be a possibility. But returning to Harvard I don't think is an option right now. Like I say, I have a family. I don't think it's fair after travelling with them the last four, five years, I don't think it's fair to say, Let's move up to Boston for two years just so I can finish a degree that I don't know if I would even really use at this point. I would like to finish maybe online. That's become prevalent. Figuring something out. It would be nice to have a Harvard degree, but I feel pretty comfortable just getting a degree somewhere else and saying I went to Harvard and they actually let me in there. Q. Tennis is sometimes condemned for all its fathers from hell, but talk about your dad. What were some of the internal principles he gave you there? JAMES BLAKE: He was someone that actually practiced what he preached. He preached hard work. I have seen and heard about all of the fathers from hell, you know, the 12 and under and 14 and under yelling at their kids for losing and berating them for playing a shot the wrong way or doing something wrong. He absolutely never ever did that. He just said, We're going to get better. If I lost a match, What did you learn from it? We're going to work harder. Whatever your opponent is doing, you're working harder. I stuck to that throughout my whole career. I felt I was one of the hardest workers in juniors. I got to college and felt like I was one of the hardest workers in college. Got to the tour level and knew there was a whole new ballgame out here. When you're playing for a paycheck, it's all you have to do. It's all you can do. It becomes your whole life, and that's what I had to do. I had to work even harder than the other guys, because as much as I love how many commentators and reporters gave me credit for being such a great athlete, I think that's maybe my secret that I kept for so long, that was the hard work that made me look athletic. I put in hours and hours on the practice court and in the gym to make it seem easier on the court, and my dad was the one who instilled that in me, to work harder than the next guy and do it the right way. He would get much angrier at me if I didn't conduct myself correctly on the court, which I didn't do very often when I was a kid. He was more concerned with how I acted on the court than if I won or lost. He doesn't worry at all about losses. When I was 12, 13, 14 he would say, Hey, you're getting better. These won't matter in the future. As a 12 year old you don't want to hear that. You think you know everything. I'm sure I'll get paid back my kids that they'll think they know everything at 10 and 12 years old like I did. But I grew up, and my dad was right. He knew way more than I did, and so did my mom. I was happy I actually learned from them and listened to them at times. I was still a bratty kid that wouldn't listen sometimes, but I did my best. Q. Outside of this venue, what are your proudest moments in your career? And secondly, just last year it sounded like Roddick sort of woke up in the morning and said, This is it; 6:00 p.m. he made his announcement. When did you decide for sure this was going to be your last tournament? JAMES BLAKE: My proudest moment was Portland without a doubt. Going through everything we went through with Andy and the Bryans and Patrick McEnroe and being a part of that team was such a joy. We had a lot of tough losses, but to come through that and win, for all of us to ‑‑Andy was our clear cut leader. I thanked him yesterday for everything he did, for our team and for me, to make my life easier, taking all the pressure off me. But that match in Portland, he won, I won, and the Bryans won. We all played a role in that, and that was something that was so special to me. So we got to celebrate a little Saturday night. We had some fun, and it was something that was electric. We had so many good memories. Even when we lost we had fun together. Those weeks are something I will never forget. Some of my best memories are playing cards, shooting the breeze with those guys in the team rooms. As far as my decision, I'd say it was becoming clearer and clearer throughout most of this year. I definitely thought about it at the beginning of the year and just, you know, little things throughout the year made it more clear and more obvious that this was the right time for me. Just even the last few weeks with how much I missed being at home from Cincinnati and Winston‑Salem, it just continued becoming more clear. Now it's crystal clear. I'm happy about it. I know Andy's decision last year was a little different. We are little different personalities. We got along great, but he was a little more impetuous at times, and I'm definitely a little more thought out and it takes me a little longer. It took me a while to come to this decision, so I'm really happy with it and comfortable with it. Q. You want to tell us about your week reaching the final in Shanghai? JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, that was an amazing week. It was fun. And we can kind of be creatures of habit, and that one was a pretty funny routine that we had. My brother was over there, Mark Merklein, who was helping me as a trainer at the time was there, my mom was there, and my coach, Brian Barker was there. We got there, and I honestly never got on the time zone change. My sleep was completely messed up. I would wake up every morning at around 5:00 in the morning, and I'd text Mark and my brother and Brian and say, All right, let's get breakfast early. We would get breakfast. I'd come home and nap. When I would get up, I text them, we'd play cards for an hour or two, and they'd usually go to the‑‑ while I was napping they'd go to the underground market or black market there or whatever, buy some jeans or watches. I think my brother still has some watches from over there that do or do not work, I don't know. But they'd find things to do, and then we'd play cards, go over, eat at the courts, practice, and come home and get dinner. We just had that routine every day, and the matches just fit right into that schedule. Played the matches, and it didn't seem like anything was out of the ordinary with winning those matches. It took until after the finals to realize like how great a week it was beating Rafa, Davydenko, Nalbandian, losing to my old nemesis again Roger in the finals. But it was a great week.  Had a ton of fun, and being with those guys was a lot of fun. That was one of my better weeks in terms of tennis, just how I played. When I look back on it, those are the tapes I should be watching instead of the Agassi match, because that was some of the best tennis I played, for sure. So I'm proud of that, and had a great time with those guys. Q. Given what you have seen Venus Williams endure lately as a contemporary of yours, what thoughts would you share with her about deciding how to continue and when it might be right to stop? JAMES BLAKE: Well, I think I have said when people ask me about what kids should do getting into tennis and how they should go about it, I could never say I have the answer because tennis is such an individual sport. So like we said, Andy and I came to this decision very differently. His was he just had a feeling when he got here to the Open. Mine has been thought out over a year. With her, I don't know what's in her body. I don't know how much Sjogren's Syndrome affects her. I don't know if she has a certain time. I always wanted to end my career at the US Open. I didn't want to end it in Paris. I don't want to end in a tournament, indoor tournament in Europe. I have always wanted to do this, so for me it made sense. But everyone is an individual, and we all just want to do our best and be happy. I hope she's happy playing. I hope whenever she does decide to stop it's on her terms and she wants to stop. I don't have any advice. I just want her to do what's right for her. She's such a great person, unbelievable champion, and she's been a friend for a long time. I hope that continues when we're both done with our careers, but I hope she's got a lot of great tennis left in her. If she doesn't, she's done more than anyone could ever expect of her, and I hope she's proud of that. We're all proud to have her as an American champion. Q. You talked about doing things the right way, and you have done a lot of great things for your sport coming back from your injury, creation of the J Block. What kind of mark do you think you'll have on tennis and American tennis? JAMES BLAKE: I really hope the mark is just that I did things the right way. I don't kid myself. I know I have had a great career in my eyes, but it's not one that's going to go down in the history books. It's not one that's going to end in Newport, but it's one that I'm proud of. It's one that hopefully younger Americans can know that my phone is always there by my side, my door is always open if they have questions, if they want any sort of advice from what I learned doing things the right way, the wrong way, any mistakes I made, things I did right, and hopefully it can help the young American guys to learn from what I did and know that it's not always one way. I always think that, like I said, it's an individual sport. So what worked for me may not work for some of these young guys. What worked for me may not have worked for Roddick. I don't think if Agassi and Sampras trained the same they would have got where they got to. You have to find what works for you. If my career just lets people know you have to do it your own way, because I have been criticized plenty for the style of play, keeping a coach too long, doing a ton of things that others from the outside see as wrong. And I knew what I was doing was the right way and was the best way for me to have success. I hope kids can see that and can be strong enough with their opinions and their views to do what's right for them. Q. I think it would probably take a tank to sneak into this tournament nowadays, but when you were a kid could you detail how you used to get on the grounds here? JAMES BLAKE: Absolutely. Right along this side here, the road ‑‑I'm not sure of the name of the road, but on that side before it was Ashe it was just Armstrong back then. Q. I think it was called Get‑in‑For‑Free Road. JAMES BLAKE: There was a fence that some kind soul had dug a little trench underneath, and so you just make sure there are no security guards around and roll right under and walk on in. Make sure you don't have to go through anywhere you need the actual tickets and make your way up to the upper deck. You're a young kid. You can kind of sneak down a little bit if you want to try to get closer, and that's when you were getting adventurous because then they could sometimes check your tickets. So I apologize. If they want to take $40 out of my check this year for the tickets that I owe them, I'm happy to pay that. (Laughter)  (Applause.) FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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